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Wednesday, 29 August 2012

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION AS THE NEW FRONTIER OF CONTEMPORARY JOURNALISM By Emmanuel Onwubiko

In this brief piece, I
am working on the frame of mind that you the members of my good audience are
vastly aware of the import of the word mass media. I am also operating with the
mindset that the media in the main is made up of the electronic, print and in
our contemporary period, we now have the new social media like Face Book,
Twitter, ToGo among numerous others.

I will therefore dwell
extensively on what I have chosen to identify as “human rights protection as
the new frontier of contemporary journalism” because of my belief that the
essence of section 22 of our Nigerian Constitution is to task media workers
with the duty of protecting human rights of the citizenry and especially of the
weak in the society.

Section 22 of the
Constitution of Nigeria of 1999 (as amended) is on the obligation of the mass
media. It states thus; “The press radio, television and other agencies of the
mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives
contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of
the Government to the people”.

In carrying out the
legal duty imposed on the Nigerian media, the media workers must clearly
understand the full implication of section 14 of the constitution which deals
with the primary legal duty of Government to the Nigerian people.

Importantly, section 14,
subsection 2(b) states that; “the security and welfare of the people shall be
the primary purpose of government”.

Going further in article
c of subsection 2, the Constitution provides that; “the participation by the
people in their Government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions
of the constitution”.

One of the ways of
knowing that there is good governance in a country is when the fundamental
human rights of the citizenry are respected by all and sundry and the members
of the public allowed unfettered access into how their God given resources are
spent by the people they elected and bestowed the democratic mandate to promote
only but public good/interest. Chapter four of the constitution is replete with
these fundamental rights provisions. The Nigerian media is constitutionally
obliged to ensure that these rights are respected and to expose violators for
possible prosecution and sanction in the competent court of law in compliance
with section 6 of the Constitution. Let me sound a note of caution- for those
of you who wish to become media practitioners so as to use the job as platform
for inaugurating your political ambitions, you have lost the plot even before
the drama begins. This is because the work of the mass media is not a
springboard for political advancement of the practitioners but for those who
wish to make their mark as respected writers and media workers. Those who go
into journalism to use it to carry out public relations with pecuniary interest
in mind should forget going into the job because you will end up becoming a big
laughing stock among your peers. The media is one institution whereby the weak
points and/or professional fault lines of the members are immediately decoded
in the news rooms because as the popular saying goes, you are as good as your
last byline. What this goes to show is that investigative journalism is the
best kind of journalism for journalism/mass communication students to embrace
in the nearest future because it would afford the prospective practitioners in
the media sector the opportunity to extensively expose the threats posed to the
human rights of the ordinary people. Developmental journalism also emphasizes
human rights advocacy through the mass media because development essentially
serves the interest of the people and provide the greatest happiness for the
greatest number of people.

But come to think of it;
what is human right so much so that we are now being told that it should
constitute the new frontier of contemporary journalism in Nigeria?

I will cite the
authoritative pronouncement of an erudite scholar Mr. Manfred Nowak, Director
of the Ludwig Boltzmann institute of HUMAN Rights at the University of Vienna
and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. He alongside Mr. Jeroen Klok
and Ms. Ingeborg Schwarw produced a beautiful book titled “HUMAN RIGHTS
HAND BOOK FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS”.

According to them;
“Human Rights are the most fundamental rights of human beings. They define
relationships between individuals and power structures, especially the State.
Human rights delimit State power and, at the same time, require States to take
positive measures ensuring an environment that enables all people to enjoy
their human rights” History, in the last 250 years has been shaped by the
struggle to create such an environment. Starting with the French and American
revolutions in the late eighteenth century, the idea of human rights has driven
many a revolutionary movement for empowerment and for control over the wielders
of power, Governments in particular".

These authors further
stated that: "Government and other duty bearers are under an obligation to
respect, protect and fulfill human rights, which form the basis for legal
entitlements and remedies in case of non-fulfillment. In fact, the possibility
to press claims and demand redress differentiates human rights from the
precepts of ethical or religious value systems".

They argued that;
"From a legal standpoint, human rights can be defined as the sum of
individual and collective rights recognized by sovereign States and enshrined
in their constitutions [ as in Nigerian Constitution] and in international
law[Universal Declarations of Human Rights; African Charter on Human and
Peoples Rights, ETC]."

Recalling that since the
Second World War, that the United Nations has played a leading role in defining
and advancing human rights, which until then had developed mainly within the
nation State, these authors charged political authorities and even media
practitioners to use their privileged positions to advance human rights.

Reminding us that
through the different internal fora that members of the United Nations have
worked vigourously to ensure that human rights have been codified in various
international and regional treaties and instruments that have been ratified by
most countries, and represent today the only universally recognized value system,
these erudite scholars are of the view that human society would be incomplete
without strict adherence and respect to the sanctity and sacredness of human
rights. I share these knowledgeable views totally.

Ms. Ayo Atsenuwa of the
faculty of law, University of Lagos produced a beautiful out line on the
historicity of the concept of human rights whereupon she stated that the
concept of human rights gained currency and has become consistently relevant
right from the period of;

·Magna Carta;

·Natural La/Natural
Rights Discourse;

·American War of
Independence and the American Declaration of Independence/French Revolution
& French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen;

·Post-Sept 11 2001 terrorists attack of World Trade center in New
York; United States of America by suicide bombers sent by the now assassinated
Osama Bin-Laden.

Professor Ayo Atsenuwa
very rightly stated that;

·Human Rights are the
embodiment of human aspirations-

·To have food, shelter and
clothing;

·To live, free of want
and disease;

·To be assured of
justice;

·To be free and allowed
to live a life of dignity; and

·To access opportunities for, and not be constrained in
self-actualization.

The attributes of human
rights are universality; in alienability; indivisibility and interdependent.

I think the media of
mass communication in Nigeria is obliged to wage relentless campaign on behalf
of the people and also enlighten the people on their fundamental rights. But
one major defect is the ownership structure of media establishments in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, political
and business elite are the owners of most of the private media houses in the
electronic and print just as the media houses run by the different levels of
government have failed to open up these media to all divergent views especially
those with opposing views to their pay masters. This tendency must change if we
ever want to retain public trust and confidence.

One way to do this is
for the National media regulators to adequately monitor the use to which media
establishments are deployed and to sanction any of the media that fails to work
for the public good and interest. Democracy must take firm root and the
democratic culture must be imbibed by all and sundry so that media houses owned
by state and Federal Governments are independently administered by tested and
trusted managers for the general interest of the general public and not the
parochial interest of the state Governors of the federal minister of
information because public fund do not belong to either the Governors or
ministers but belong to the PUBLIC.

The strategy,
philosophy, and operational method of journalism in our contemporary Nigerian
society must be directed towards serving the best interest of Nigerians. We
thank God that good spirited individuals and inventors have come up with the
new social media which has democratize the spread of information but we must
exercise some decency and discretion so that we do not end up using social
media for criminal activities like the unfortunate killing of Miss. Cynthia
Osokogu, the daughter of Major General Frank Osokogu who was killed by her online
friends who lured her to travel to meet them in Lagos only to end up snuffing
the life out of her. May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace, amen.

* Comrade Emmanuel
Nnadozie Onwubiko, is a former Federal Commissioner of the Nigerian National
Human Rights Commission [NHRC] and the National coordinator of the Non-profit,
Non-Political and Non-religious organization-HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION
OF NIGERIA; HURIWA.

HURIWA'S WORKING VISIT TO ICPC ON THE 27TH MARCH 2013

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS' ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA; HURIWA, ON DECEMBER 12TH 2012 VISITED THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY[NEMA] ALHAJI MOHAMMAD SANI-SIDI ON THE CELEBRATION OF WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY TO CONFER ON HIM THE HUMAN RIGHTS PERSON OF THE YEAR 2012 BY THE ORGANIZATION. THE DG PROMISED TO TAKE DISASTER MANAGEMENT LESSONS TO ALL PARTS OF NIGERIA. HURIWA WAS LED BY ITS NATIONAL COORDINATOR COMRADE EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO.